Crossy Maze: 5 Tips, tricks, and cheats to give you a head-start on unlocks, pickups, and Pip-play!

Having a hard time with spike pits, falling blocks, and enemy Pips? Here’s what you need to know to win!

Pleasing graphics, jolly soundtrack, and RPG elements make Crossy Maze a ton of fun to play. Appearing straightforward at the beginning, the game increases in difficulty as you progress. To help your Pip along the way, you will gain items and hearts. How does it all fit together? Here’s how to get a head-start on unlocks, pickups, and play-styles.

Don’t get trigger happy

Tapping directional arrows too fast can move your Pip too far. With the amount of traps littered around the maze you will likely wind up losing a heart. There will be times when you panic and have to tap fast, but try to keep count of your taps. As you can see above, I tapped one too many times and fell into the pit.

Study and plan

When you start a new maze there should be no immediate danger, so take a few moments to study the board. Plan your route using the least amount of moves, as less moves means less chance of losing hearts. In the first two screenshots above you can see how many blocks I’ve touched without getting too close to the enemy Pips (although, I did use a Rainbow—more on that below). You can see in the last screenshot above how intricate some boards can be.

Know your enemies

You may not be Sun Zi, but you can take the famous tactician’s advice and know your opponents.

Red Eyes Pip: Can only move in relation to your place on the maze. Cannot move diagonally.Green X Pip: Will take the quickest route toward you. Cannot move diagonally.Blue Eyes Ball Pip: Takes the quickest route to you. Can move diagonally and can jump over blank spaces.

Understand what they can do and you’ll have a better chance of beating them.

Lure your enemies

Moving enemy Pips will attempt to follow you around the maze. They are not affected by rising spikes but cannot traverse spike pits. If these enemies are blocking a certain part of the maze, move close to attract their attention, then move away. These enemies can be removed from the maze by luring them onto a falling block square you have activated, as pictured above. Note that enemy Pips cannot activate falling blocks.

Use your inventory to your advantage

Coins collected while crossing the maze can be used to purchase several items: Hearts, weapons, save points, and reviving a dead character. Other than hearts and swords, items purchased or picked up will appear in your inventory (located beneath the maze and above the directional arrows, as pictured above). Hearts and swords are located above the maze. I try to keep enough coins in my inventory for a revive—accidents happen—which costs 30 coins. Inventory items cost 10 coins while marking a save point will cost you 20 coins. Inventory items include:

Heart: Run out of these and you’ll have the option to revive your character. Run out again and you’ll have to completely restart.Sword: If you have a sword in your inventory you will automatically attack an enemy Pip who lands on your square. Swords are one use only.Shield: Tap to deploy. The shield will prevent any enemy Pips from landing on the square. You can use the shield to block enemies from a part of the map, or you can use it to create a safe space for your Pip.Bombs: Tap a bomb and place it near one or more enemies. Run! A timer on the bomb counts down to detonation. Don’t get caught in the blast—you will lose a heart.Rainbow: Tapping the rainbow will color all adjacent squares. If there is a trap-filled area of the map you’d rather not deal with, get as close as you dare and deploy the rainbow. The squares will now appear colored and you can move on. Trap: My favorite item: tap, deploy your own trap, and lure enemies toward it. Enemy Pips who land on the trap are removed from the board. Your trap, once deployed, will remain active on the board until you pass through the end-door. Freeze: Tap to freeze time for five seconds. You are free to move around, but traps and enemies are frozen in place.